Keep Me In The Dark
by Yugicanbesexy
Summary: "All I know is there is one reason I'm going back" Merlin said holding his legs. "And what's that?" Gaius asked   "She is the reason." Yugicanbesexy's twin wrote this.
1. Chapter 1

Keep me in the dark

Chapter 1

The shiny metal of the sword lighted the dark armoury in the stone fingers of the statue. The sword was being held by a light brown stone statue of a knight in full armour, it looked like it was glaring like most armour helmets do. The light came from the only small window at the left hand side wall which was usually blocked out by the poorly fixed blind, the poor light made the shadowy forms in the room look more sinister than it really was.

The long sword cast light onto two smaller shiny objects. They were large light blue eyes. These belonged to a girl who was sitting, or rather cowering, behind one of the suits of armour. She was around 6, 7 at the most. She had long black hair which was falling over her face hiding her expressions and looked messy, giving her a wild look. She was wearing a long dark purple velvet dress, which was so long she often tripped over, and she was holding her knees; this made her look smaller than she was.

It wasn't completely silent; she could still hear voices and noises from the outside world but they were muffled. She would prefer absolute silence though, that was just her way. She enjoyed the darker rooms to the lighter rooms; she preferred the forest to the court rooms.

Any other girl of her age would be hanging onto the castle as a safety blanket or being really grateful and starry eyed at everyone.

She wasn't like that.

She mostly annoyed people or got in the way of them all. Her adopted father ignored her and her adopted brother Arthur only poked her when he was bored of her, or bored full stop.

Uther had adopted her for two reasons: One, he and her father were close friends so when her father died the king felt it was his duty to keep her. Two: Prince Arthur needed a bride.

She hated Arthur and she was sure the feeling was mutual. Arthur saw her as only an annoyance and strange. She was considered strange because she mostly muttered to herself and fixed the stare on him and his friends which, she was sure, scared them away.

That was the only thing she enjoyed. Whenever she couldn't stand Arthur anymore or she was just in a bad mood than she'd fix her stare on everyone.

"Morgana!" the sound of her name reached her. She sighed Arthur needed her. She stood and walked over to the door. She stopped to look wistfully at the dark room filled with shadowy figures.

Slowly she pushed the door open and walked into the corridor. The light was streaming through several windows in the wall, showing off the light grey courtyard filled to the brim with people, huge green hills over the walls and Blue Mountains in the distance.

Morgana longed and longed to go to see what was over the mountains. When she was living at her real home, she could run for miles and miles night and day and never get into trouble, well only for a second.

But now it was safer to stay indoors all the time. She once asked Uther but he only said "We are at war with the Scots, Saxons, Welsh, the pots, French, Irish and the magic."

Magic. Couldn't forget about them. She knew that she was meant to hate them but she just couldn't. Uther was determined to kill them all for the simple reason that they killed his wife. Morgana hated what he did to the magic people he didn't kill them, no that would be too kind, he would hang them then cut them down whilst still alive than torture them until they died.

Arthur and the other boys of course hated magic. But they were more inclined to swallow that tripe. They were so thick that you could literally say that gold would make them go out in a rash and next thing you know all gold would be burned!

"Idiots" she muttered, they annoyed her so much with their black and white views.

She turned to her "Beloved" adopted brother and asked in her sugar sweet voice "What!"

"We need you" was the only answer she got.

She sighed, whenever Arthur said that than she would have to either be an escape goat or a stupid damsel in their stupid knight games.

She inwardly groaned, she always had to blink her long lashes sarcastically like she was brainless, repeat over and over again help in a disinterested way just for the lunk-heads to get the message. They rarely asked her now because she definitive and disinteresting but Arthur still made her do it now and again, all the while complaining about how selfish she was being.

"And why would my great, generous, handsome brother need me?" she said not changing her tone.

Arthur closed his eyes and nodded in that vein way he usually did. When she was done he opened his eyes with a smile on his face, he was more inclined to answer.

"We are going to play knights and we need a damsel" he said with his stupid grin on his face in hope she might miraculously say yes.

Morgana glared and turned to go back in the dark room. No way was she going to be a brainless, I-can't-do-anything-without-a-man idiot again.

"Come on" whined Arthur grabbing her arm. She shook him off, she was so angry with him.

"Go away and leave me alone" she growled.

"I told you she would react this way" said Lancelot, Lancelot said "I told you so" a lot which made him very difficult to be around.

"Shut up Lancelot" Arthur snapped before saying to Morgana in his whinny voice, he used it whenever he wanted something, and it usually worked. Not on Morgana though. "Please Morgana."

"No." Morgana said finally.

"Please" Arthur carried on whining.

Arthur _pouted finally after 5 times of whining the same sentence_. "If you don't than I'll get Father to put you in the attic as a punishment."

The other boys gasped but it fell on Morgana like water on a duck's back. She just shrugged. "So?" _she questioned. She knew that if ever one of the boys misbehaved or mean to Arthur then they would be put in the attic. She knew they would go in confident and cocky but when they came__ out they were wide eyed and tripping over themselves with apologies to Arthur. All people could get out of them was that there was a ghost with white eyes and a child's voice._

_Morgana didn't believe them but she couldn't dismiss the fact that she could h__ear crashes above her room and footsteps in the night. But other than that, no she didn't believe them._

_"I'm not afraid" she answered crossing her arms._

_"I told you she'd say that" Lancelot said._

_"Shut up!" everyone said._

_"First if I ever hear you say __that again Lancelot I'll ring your neck." Kay said glaring at his friend and then, turning to Morgana, "Second, you don't know what you're talking about", Kay had been put in the attic three times so he knew what he was talking about, "Those eyes follow yo__u and they try to get you to come to them so they can kill you."_

_But Morgana was unmoved. "I don't care; I'm not scared so leave me alone." _

She pushed past them all possibly to go to her room and avoid them the rest of the day, but then Arthur had to open his mouth. "Yeah, anyway you couldn't deal with it anyway, because all girls are good for is being damsels, you and I know that."

Morgana stopped dead. "Say that again." She whispered. He had crossed a line, he had shown just how he saw her and his own narrow minded view on the world. "I am five times as brave as you all will ever be." She spat angrily.

She had lived outside of this dump, she was mostly alone and she could beat them in any fight they challenged her to.

Arthur though scoffed. Morgana glared.

"Prove it." He said smugly. "Prove that girls are just as brave as boys."

Morgana glared, she would be looked down on even more than she already was if she didn't. "How do I prove it?"

"Go into the attic." Arthur said smugly with his arms crossed. "And show us that theres nothing to be afraid of."

Morgana sighed and followed them to the tiny door to the attic. It didn't seem very threatening, just a small light hazel nut coloured door that was only a few inches long and high.

Morgana pursed her lips as she turned to the others. Kay was shaking and hiding behind Gawain and some of the others seemed pale.

She sighed and Arthur gestured for her to go up.

Slowly, very slowly, she walked up the small stairs to the door. There was an old rusty latch on the door.

She bit her lip as it looked threatening.

She turned again, Arthur looked smug. That was enough to make her do something stupid. She glared and raised the latch with some difficulty.

The room inside looked completely black. There was no light what so ever, she could make out nothing except the two walls either side of the door frame which was alluminated with the light from the outside. With the light she saw the stone of the walls was a light grey covered with strong dust and cobwebs.

She licked her lips and entered.

The smell was a mix of dust and dirt that hung low in the air giving it a thick feel. Morgana blinked as the dust and particles of spiders weds got into her eyes. She coughed loudly as it got into her throat. Her whole mouth was suddenly coated with thick dust and it made her cough more.

The door slammed shut.

"Great" she muttered as the darkness engulfed her eyes. She hated the dark, maybe because she had nightmares every night.

She walked over to the door and tried the handle. It was stuck. It must be only be able to open from the outside.

She shook the handle. "Arthur!" she called panicking a little. What if they left, what if they couldn't hear her, what if they were messing with her.

No one came to the door. "Arthur!" she called louder.

Still no one.

She was about to try again when a small sound came behind her. Morgana felt her world spin for a second as panic and uncertainty erupted. What if this was the ghost and it will kill her? Maybe it was nothing; it could be just a mouse or some other rodent. Yes but that sound sounded too big for a mouse.

She had to know.

Using all her courage she gulped and turned around.

Two large white orbs shone in the dark light.

In her panicked and desperate state these looked to Morgana certainly like a ghost or some other kind of spirit.

Morgana screamed and began pounding at the door. "Let me out!" she screamed loudly "Let me out!" She began to screamed inaudible words and tears ran down her cheeks.

Suddenly she fainted.


	2. Chapter 2

Keep me in the dark

Chapter 2

Morgana scribbled down the words that Gaius had asked the children to copy. She ignored the giggles and pokes from the boys behind her.

She had been found and punished by Uther, her step father, for being in the attic. Although he didn't even hide the fact he was happier to see her nearing breaking point. Who knows maybe she'll be the kind of girl who reads books and hides at every new stranger before the year is out. Morgana shuddered at the thought.

She rubbed her eyes; they had bags under them because she had had nightmares all night long of the two orbs. She still had no idea what she had seen in that room. Really she didn't want to know.

Morgana held her arms as she replayed the image over and over again in her head. She physically stiffened and breathed hard through her nose.

"Morgana" Gaius said from the end of the room, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah" she said taking her pen again and scribbling down more words.

"She's scared of the ghost" mocked Arthur.

"Shut up" Morgana said wiping around in her seat, "you little-"

"Morgana maybe you should-" Gaius said trying to defuse the situation.

"You know what's so beautiful" Arthur beamed gesturing with his hands.

"What?" Morgana said through gritted teeth.

"That I was right girls are damsels who always need to be saved-"

Arthur was cut off because Morgana leaped at him and was hitting him in the face as hard as she could. "Help!" Arthur screamed through hits, slaps and punches.

"For pity sake children!" Gaius cried grabbing them by the scruffs of their necks and holding them apart at arm's length. Arthur had a bloody nose and a bruised cheek but he was still crying like a baby, even though he was eight years old.

Morgana was scrabbling still at him like a mad cat, her nails like claws trying to scratch him, her teeth still bared and gnashing at him.

"Good God" Perceval cried running to hold her back.

"She's a wild thing!" Gawain said checking to see if Arthur was alright.

"I told you this would happen" Lancelot muttered holding his hands.

Morgana began to breathe easier and seemed to calm down more; she shook Perceval off and moved away shaking a little as the adrenalin began to empty out of her system.

"What is going on here!" came a voice. Morgana groaned, things were going to get a whole lot worse. "Gaius what has happened to my son?" King Uther Pendragon asked looking in Arthur's direction; Arthur was putting on the wounded puppy with the hurt paw.

"Just a little fight, my lord, nothing I can't handle." Gaius stated, Morgana smiled, Gaius was about the only person in this hell hole who she gave a damn about and who gave a damn about her. He would usually defend her and when she first came to live in the castle she would speak to him every night about how she hated it here, how she missed her father and how she hated Arthur.

"Who did this?" asked the king crossing his arm angrily.

All the boys pointed at Morgana. Morgana glared angrily at them all, she was going to get them for this.

"Do you have any explanations for me?" Uther asked towering against the small girl. He was wearing black velvet with a silvery blue symbol of the last dragon on his chest, perched on his head was a golden crown that looked out of place with the rest of his chosen wardrobe.

Morgana took a long breathe, whenever her adopted parent used the word explanation he said it to say "I'm not please with you, but you can still dig yourself out of this hole." She only saw him use this on magic people who, no matter what they said, were always found guilty. Never on her and definitely not, before and she was certain after, Arthur.

She looked at him in the eyes and said, shakily but it sounded defiant: "I was defending myself from Arthur's prejudices about me in believing that girls are not as good as boys," She tried to state.

Uther raised both eyebrows before going into speech. "It is prudent to remember one's graces and place in the world" he said looking at the world in general not really at Morgana or the other children "Your place Morgana is to except and love Arthur-."

"Even if he doesn't except and love me!" she shrieked, even though she was 6, nearly 7 years old, she was brave enough to defend her corner and to know when she was being mistreated.

"Don't talk to me like that!" Uther yelled at her but still keeping calm. "You and Arthur will one day be married and you are going to show him respect and love as befitting a woman."

Morgana glared at him. No, this was not going to be her fate. "I will not be Arthur's wife!" she yelled at him feeling tears in her eyes.

She suddenly felt a slap against her head from Uther.

"Sire!" Gaius cried but he was unheard because all Morgana heard was Uther whispered "If you're not careful you'll be up in that Attic again."

Morgana began to shake violently as huge tears fell down her face, off her chin and onto the floor.

**~::~**

*Creak, Creak, Creeeaaak*

Morgana stared at the ceiling of her bedroom as the sound of wood shifting uneasily came to her.

Was it her imagination? Was it a servant? Or was it the ghost?

Morgana shivered and covered her ears hiding in the covers of her bed.

She looked out the window at the pure night. The stars were out and large drops were crashing against the glass panes. Usually it would lull her to sleep in a second or she'd get up and look at the new black world but now…

Now hard visions came gently to her as her mind tested her so she could feel fright. Large grey orbs appeared without warning in front of her making her skin prick.

This was all she needed. She had been here for nearly a year, a long, frustrating, miserable year. She had been brought here just after her father died. She wished he hadn't maybe then she would be still happy. She felt freer there and somehow safer.

When she was little she would run across fields and fields of pure space, from morning to dawn. She knew the way to places that most people wouldn't dare go, like the forbidding dark emerald forests that surrounded her father's castle and the silver melted rivers over the lime hills that took her to the great sea. Her father would take her often, it was they're places.

Here, there was nothing. There was the huge brown forest over the walls that looked interesting enough. The trees were different make here and she could hear strange animal and bird noises. But she wasn't allowed anywhere near it, Uther said the Druids lived there and they will kill her on site.

Morgana never saw any Druids but that didn't change the fact that Uther had forbidden her to go anywhere the forest, and for good measure ordered all the guards not to let the children anywhere near the doors.

She felt trapped within four stone grey walls. No beauty, freedom or company for that matter.

Just her now, all alone.

**~::~**

"Tired?" Arthur asked smugly at her the next morning.

"Either shut up or get on with it" Morgana stated her back turned to him; he must have seen the bags under her eyes. She was sitting by herself on a step under a window in the corner of the armoury playing with dust mites she found and bugs.

She had to play alone because she didn't want to be in even more trouble with Uther.

The armoury was where the children spent most of their days now to entertain themselves. This was ironic in Morgana's mind but being the only voice of reason in this mad house she wasn't likely to be heard. She was also the only girl here too of her age, the rest were older than her and were doormats for men.

She couldn't relate to _them_.

"Now" said Arthur, "I am the brave King Arthur, the greatest king in British History. And you are my faithful knights who look to me for purity and wisdom..!"

"Get on with it!" Kay shouted, Arthur's rival.

Arthur glared at him but carried on in the speech he was giving like he was reading a story to them. "Today our heroes are in the shadowy forest north of their beloved Camelot. They are in pursuit of a deadly dragon that has snatched the Lady Morgana" He looked at Morgana as though it was her que.

Morgana sighed and said in the most uninterested, annoyed and bored way she could "Help, help, faint, faint." She gestures with one hand of her fainting but she still sat bolt upright.

"Yeah" Arthur said trying to sound like he wasn't really annoyed at her. "And the brave knights come to a dark castle where they hear Morgana's screams…Morgana scream!" he ordered.

Morgana gave a small scream in the same disinterested tone as before.

Arthur this time glared at her this time but managed to carry on "A huge dragon appears from behind the walls. Come on we have to stop it!" he yelled running to an open space in the room, the other boys ran after him.

Morgana sighed turning her back again. She began playing with a spider that seemed to be just passing through, Morgana didn't mind spiders they if anything fascinated her by the way they moved their eight tiny legs and looked. She played with it by letting it scrawl over her hands.

She didn't want to watch the boys thrust sticks or eating knives into thin air to kill the "dragon".

After about 3 minutes of the boys running about the room with their feeble weapons, because it seems that the dragon split into a million. Arthur finally remembered Morgana. He walked up to Morgana, making Morgana lose her spider "As the brave, kind and not to mention handsome-"

"Get on with it!" Morgana said her head in her hand; she was upset because her spider had crawled away.

"As I was saying" Arthur said not even hiding that he was annoyed now with her. "The great King Arthur found his beloved sister and wife-"

"I'm not your wife and I'm barely your sister." Morgana stated her arms crossed, she hated the idea that they were going to be married. In many ways she was lucky not to be married already.

"Let's not get into that now" Arthur said brushing it aside. The one thing they had in common, they both hated the idea that they were to be married.

Morgana and Arthur looked at each other. Maybe in that one second a tiny spark of uncomfortable connection came out of the ever present fire of hate in both of their souls.

But all seconds have to end.

The other boys had noticed and they had started making kissing noises next to them, Kay and Lancelot were the worse.

Arthur went red in the face and began yelling while Morgana just glared at them all. She wasn't going to rise to it, she wasn't going to rise to it, she wasn't-

"Arthur and Morgana sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…"

"GET LOST!" cried both Morgana and Arthur at the same time and glared at each other as their situation got worse.

Arthur pushed her, she pushed him back. Her temper was broken and it was lose. Arthur fell backwards and landed hard on the floor.

The other boys gasped as well as Morgana. Arthur sat up and rubbed the back of his head, there was blood on his hand. He stared at her and glared. "I'll get you for this."

Morgana backed away, now she had done it, not only had she hurt Arthur she had also insulted him by showing he could be beat up by a girl in front of all his friends. Arthur was not blessed yet with many brain cells so if ever he went, he went badly.

Arthur yelled and ran at her. Morgana turned and ran as Arthur chased her out of the room yelling inaudible words at her.

He chased her through the room, out the door so they out in the corridor, past several doors, dodged two guards, through another corridor and finally to the steps to the attic. Morgana was though blinded to where she was going until she bumped into the door.

She stared up in surprise and horror at the brown nearly orange door above her. She backed away shaking slightly, she wasn't going in there.

She was about to turn and run to find a better place to hide when she heard Arthur running down the corridor. He sounded livid with her.

It was more of fear than anything else that caused her to force the door open and run in.

She closed her eyes so she couldn't see the darkness or the white orbs. Arthur was ramming the door trying to get inside the room. She waited until he had cooled down and left her alone.

Morgana was trembling as she waited but she was shaking when he left, she was on her own now. Slowly she opened her eyes. The room hadn't changed a bit, it was still dark and the air was thick with dust and particles of spider's webs.

It was completely silent and covered in black. She sat watching the room go into more focus and colour; she began to see more clearly the room. Morgana could make out some small steps that lead to a door way of a pure black to the left.

She was paralysed so she didn't dared try and get the door open again.

After 5 or so minutes she shakily stood and pulled at the door, once again the door's lock was rusted shut. She sat again waiting to be found or be rescued by someone.

There was a long creak from the blackness in the doorway. Morgana thought she saw a tiny, golden, flicker of light, maybe it was a way out.

Shakily he stood and walked slowly up the little steps; she leaned on the door less frame and looked in. Yes there were some tiny shreds of light but it looked like fire if anything. She sighed this was no way out.

Morgana was about to turn and sit down in front of the door again when she heard a small voice just behind her say quietly: "Ok, you're scaring me now."

She turned and saw the large white orbs staring at her. Morgana screamed, loud enough to wake the dead and long enough to end the world. She screamed until she had no more breath in her body and even then she made gasped sounds.

It was only until her heart had stopped thumping in her ears that she could hear screaming too from the orbs.

Morgana shakily sat up trying to move away from them. The orbs flickered. No blinked. Wait, blinked? Orbs don't blink. But eyes did. That fact struck Morgana harder than stones.

These were eye, yes she was sure. She could see a form shape drawn around them highlighted with the darkness. Slowly she edged forward, it was small and thin and the eyes were large and seemingly inquisitive though they did not dart from side to side questioningly like she was sure hers did, they just stayed in place looking past her into space.

"What are you?" she asked quietly, she was still not sure whether she was dealing with a dangerous spirit or human.

"I used to be called Merlin." Was the small answer.


End file.
